The selection and placement of art, decorations, shelves, sconces, or other objects on or about a wall or area to be decorated is a highly subjective task that depends upon numerous factors. Some of these factors include the size of the area to be decorated and the placement, size, colors and style of objects adjacent to or already placed on the wall to be decorated, such as windows, doors, window coverings, furnishings and light fixtures. Often, it is a combination of many, or all, of these factors, filtered through the subjective eyes of a decision maker, that determines what piece(s) of artwork are placed in an area to be decorated.
People commonly choose artwork based upon their own tastes, or receive assistance and advice from others in choosing artwork. However, the selection of artwork is influenced by many factors beyond choosing an artist or style. For example, the lighting in the room, the surrounding colors of the walls, ceilings, flooring, the type of window coverings, the style of furnishings and other objects in the room and other factors will influence the appearance of the artwork once it is placed. Most artwork is selected in an environment, such as a gallery, that is unlike the wall and room upon which it will be ultimately placed. These environments tend to be sterile, with the focus on the artwork uninfluenced by other environmental factors that are typical of a residence, office, commercial, or industrial location that is to be decorated.
Thus, the selection of artwork traditionally has been on a “hit or miss” approach. Artwork is selected, placed upon a wall and then returned if its size and/or style does not have the desired impression. This can become a time-extensive and often frustrating project when several pieces are tried. Such a process may also become relatively expensive in the event that artwork has to be shipped or otherwise picked up and/or delivered to the location and back to the source. Many art galleries are located in tourist destinations or other locations remote to the location the purchaser will actually hang the artwork, further exacerbating this problem. The inability for the potential purchaser of artwork to determine whether a selected piece of artwork will fit or look desirable once hung on a wall within the potential purchaser's home, office or other space is a significant impediment to selecting and purchasing artwork.
Another problem with the selection of the artwork is the relative inability to access a broad selection of pieces of artwork. Presently, a significant amount of artwork is purchased through galleries or shops. Thus, in order for an individual to view various pieces of artwork, a personal visit to each of the galleries having the artwork is generally required. This simply is not feasible due to time and travel constraints, so the amount of artwork that is available to a typical individual is limited to the artwork that is available in the areas that the individual resides or happens to be traveling. While it is possible to view books of art to see additional artwork, or even visit websites of available artwork, the artwork available through these avenues is limited and they do not lend themselves to visually inspecting the artwork in a desired environment.
Similarly, shops and/or galleries that provide artwork generally have clientele that is limited to local area residents and visitors to the area that happen to stop at the shop or gallery. However, even if a visitor to the area stops at the shop or gallery, they are often hesitant to purchase a piece due to the considerations described above. Thus, shops or galleries that sell pieces of artwork often have a market that is much smaller than the total market of potential buyers of such pieces of artwork. Individual artists have similarly limited access to potential purchasers of their artwork. Their clientele is generally limited to those who are aware of the artist and her work or has access to and knowledge of the artist's work through galleries, shops or internet sites that feature her art.
As a result, significant inefficiencies exist in pairing suitable artwork, on the one hand, with individuals who are seeking artwork, suitable for a particular location or otherwise, on the other hand.